Apple, Samsung, Bath & Body Works Top Black Friday Sales; Walmart and Dollar Tree Private Label Brands Win in Household Penetration

CHICAGO, November 28, 2023 (GlobeNewswire) – Numerator, a data and tech company serving the market research space, has released early read survey data for the full 2023 Cyber Weekend (Thanksgiving through Cyber Monday; online and brick & mortar shopping) and early read purchase data for Black Friday. Overall, consumers gravitated toward Black Friday, where average spend topped $100 and online orders were 23% higher than in-store purchases. In addition, Numerator’s Cyber Weekend survey (4,527 verified buyers as of Tuesday morning) revealed that while the majority of consumers planned to shop the weekend deals ahead of time and finished buying most of their gifts during the sales, nearly all shoppers said that rising prices have impacted their holiday shopping.

Black Friday Purchase Insights
Consumers shopping in-store and/or online on Friday 11/24/23

  • Black Friday shoppers spent $100+ and made multiple shopping trips. The average Black Friday shopper spent $116 and made two separate purchases during the day of sales. 10% of shoppers spent over $250 or made 3+ separate purchases.
  • Online Black Friday orders were larger than in-store purchases, driven by higher-priced items. Online orders were $14 larger than in-store baskets ($75 vs. $61), with an average cost per item of $22 online and $9 in-store.
  • Apple, Lego, and Bath & Body Works ranked in the top 10 brands based both on sales and households buying on Black Friday. Four of the top 10 brands by households buying were Walmart private label brands.
    • Top 10 by sales: Apple, Samsung, Bath & Body Works, PlayStation, Whirlpool, Hewlett Packard, Lego, Sony, Amazon Gift Cards, Nintendo
    • Top 10 by households buying: Equate (Walmart), Dollar Tree (Dollar Tree), Bath & Body Works, Holiday Time (Walmart), Great Value (Walmart), Mainstays (Walmart), Up & Up (Target), Rubbermaid, Apple, Lego
  • Amazon, Walmart and Target were the top three Black Friday retailers based both on sales and households buying. Costco, Home Depot, Kroger, Lowe’s and TJX Companies also made both lists.
    • Top 10 by sales: Amazon, Walmart, Target, Best Buy, Costco, Home Depot, Kroger, Lowe’s, Sam’s Club, TJX Companies
    • Top 10 by households buying: Amazon, Walmart, Target, Dollar Tree, Kroger, Home Depot, Lowe’s, Dollar General, TJX Companies, Costco

Cyber Weekend Survey Insights
Consumers shopping in-store and/or online from Thursday 11/23/23 to Monday 11/27/23

  • Black Friday was the most popular shopping day by far. Among those consumers who shopped over Cyber Weekend, 89% said they shopped or planned to shop on Black Friday (up from 88% last year), followed by Cyber Monday (45%), Saturday after Thanksgiving (45%), Thanksgiving Thursday (27%) and the Sunday after Thanksgiving (23%).
  • Nearly three-quarters of Cyber Weekend shoppers planned their shopping ahead of time. 73% of consumers said they made plans at least a few days in advance to shop the weekend deals, with 28% saying they planned weeks in advance. The remaining 27% were more spontaneous, with 10% deciding to shop the day before and 17% on the day-of.
  • Consumers continue to shift online. More than one-third (36%) of shoppers said they shopped more online and less in-store this year than Cyber Weekend 2022 – twice as many who said they shopped more in-store this year (14%).
  • Most shoppers hit multiple retailers over Cyber Weekend 2023. 72% of shoppers said they purchased items from 3 or more different stores or websites over the weekend, with 27% purchasing from 5+ retailers.
  • More than one-third of shoppers spent less this year. 37% of Cyber Weekend shoppers said they spent less this year, and 19% said they spent more. Reasons for spending cutbacks included: less disposable income this year (37% of shoppers who cut back), didn’t see as many good deals (35%), buying fewer holiday gifts (33%) and cautious of an impending recession and wanted to save (24%).
  • The majority of shoppers were impacted by higher prices. 71% of shoppers said rising prices had a moderate to significant impact on their holiday gift shopping over the weekend. Only 6% said rising prices had no impact.
  • Higher prices are causing consumers to make changes in their gift purchasing. Nearly half (49%) said they are now seeking out promotions and coupons, 39% are buying fewer gifts and 29% are shopping at different retailers to find better prices.
  • The majority of Cyber Weekend shoppers are close to finishing their holiday shopping. Following their weekend purchases, 54% of shoppers say they are mostly or completely finished with their holiday gift shopping. Only 2% say they have not yet started.
    • The most common gift categories that shoppers reported purchasing were apparel (66% of respondents), toys & games (48%), home goods (44%), electronics (43%), beauty products (35%), small appliances (22%), wrapping paper & supplies (16%) and sporting goods (15%).

Early read purchase data for Black Friday 2023 (11/24/23) is sourced from Numerator Insights. Survey results cover 11/23/23 through 8:00AM ET on 11/28/23 from 4,527 respondents. Full Cyber Weekend data will be available the week of December 4th.

About Numerator:

Numerator is a data and tech company bringing speed and scale to market research.  Numerator blends first-party data from over 1 million US households with advanced technology to provide 360-degree consumer understanding for the market research industry that has been slow to change. Headquartered in Chicago, IL, Numerator has 2,000 employees worldwide; 80 of the top 100 CPG brands’ manufacturers are Numerator clients.

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